Poland defense minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz speaks at Parliament in Warsaw, May 22, 2024. (Slawomir Kaminski, Agencja Wyborcza.pl via Reuters)
WARSAW — Poland signed an agreement with the United States for the delivery of a $960 million airspace reconnaissance system to monitor its northeastern borders, defense minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said Wednesday.
“Poland will be the second country in the world to use this system,” he said. “The agreement defines our security, it is another act of cooperation between Poland and the USA.”
Poland has boosted defense spending this year to about 4% of gross domestic product as it seeks to strengthen its armed forces following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It aims to invest $2.6 billion in protecting the eastern border.
Under the contract, Poland will receive four aerostats, or moored balloons, which will be stationed at posts along the eastern and northeastern borders, assisting Poland’s air defense and coastal observation systems.
The contract also provides for related logistics and program support. The system will be delivered and fully operative by 2027, Kosiniak-Kamysz said.
According to the head of Poland’s Armament Agency, General Artur Kuptel, describing the system in Polish media earlier this month, radars suspended from the tethered balloons will monitor the sky as far as Ukraine, Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad from Polish air space.
They have the ability to detect a wide range of objects, such as missiles, aircraft, drones and surface vessels in a range of over 185 miles
In February the U.S. Department of State approved the possible sale of airspace and surface radar reconnaissance aerostat systems and related elements of logistics and program support.
